Microelectronic devices such as semiconductor chips typically require many input and output connections to other electronic components. The input and output contacts of a semiconductor chip or other comparable device are generally disposed in grid-like patterns that substantially cover a surface of the device (commonly referred to as an “area array”) or in elongated rows which may extend parallel to and adjacent each edge of the device's front surface, or in the center of the front surface. Typically, devices such as chips must be physically mounted on a substrate such as a printed circuit board, and the contacts of the device must be electrically connected to electrically conductive features of the circuit board.
Semiconductor chips are commonly provided in packages that facilitate handling of the chip during manufacture and during mounting of the chip on an external substrate such as a circuit board or other circuit panel. For example, many semiconductor chips are provided in packages suitable for surface mounting. Numerous packages of this general type have been proposed for various applications. Most commonly, such packages include a dielectric element, commonly referred to as a “chip carrier” with terminals formed as plated or etched metallic structures on the dielectric. These terminals typically are connected to the contacts of the chip itself by features such as thin traces extending along the chip carrier itself and by fine leads or wires extending between the contacts of the chip and the terminals or traces. In a surface mounting operation, the package is placed onto a circuit board so that each terminal on the package is aligned with a corresponding contact pad on the circuit board. Solder or other bonding material is provided between the terminals and the contact pads. The package can be permanently bonded in place by heating the assembly so as to melt or “reflow” the solder or otherwise activate the bonding material.
Many packages include solder masses in the form of solder balls, typically about 0.1 mm and about 0.8 mm (5 and 30 mils) in diameter, attached to the terminals of the package. A package having an array of solder balls projecting from its bottom surface is commonly referred to as a ball grid array or “BGA” package. Other packages, referred to as land grid array or “LGA” packages are secured to the substrate by thin layers or lands formed from solder. Packages of this type can be quite compact. Certain packages, commonly referred to as “chip scale packages,” occupy an area of the circuit board equal to, or only slightly larger than, the area of the device incorporated in the package. This is advantageous in that it reduces the overall size of the assembly and permits the use of short interconnections between various devices on the substrate, which in turn limits signal propagation time between devices and thus facilitates operation of the assembly at high speeds.
Assemblies including packages can suffer from stresses imposed by differential thermal expansion and contraction of the device and the substrate. During operation, as well as during manufacture, a semiconductor chip tends to expand and contract by an amount different from the amount of expansion and contraction of a circuit board. Where the terminals of the package are fixed relative to the chip or other device, such as by using solder, these effects tend to cause the terminals to move relative to the contact pads on the circuit board. This can impose stresses in the solder that connects the terminals to the contact pads on the circuit board. As disclosed in certain preferred embodiments of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,679,977; 5,148,266; 5,148,265; 5,455,390; and 5,518,964, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, semiconductor chip packages can have terminals that are movable with respect to the chip or other device incorporated in the package. Such movement can compensate to an appreciable degree for differential expansion and contraction.
Testing of packaged devices poses another formidable problem. In some manufacturing processes, it is necessary to make temporary connections between the terminals of the packaged device and a test fixture, and operate the device through these connections to assure that the device is fully functional. Ordinarily, these temporary connections must be made without bonding the terminals of the package to the test fixture. It is important to assure that all of the terminals are reliably connected to the conductive elements of the test fixture. However, it is difficult to make connections by pressing the package against a simple test fixture such as an ordinary circuit board having planar contact pads. If the terminals of the package are not coplanar, or if the conductive elements of the test fixture are not coplanar, some of the terminals will not contact their respective contact pads on the test fixture. For example, in a BGA package, differences in the diameter of the solder balls attached to the terminals, and non-planarity of the chip carrier, may cause some of the solder balls to lie at different heights.
These problems can be alleviated through the use of specially constructed test fixtures having features arranged to compensate for non-planarity. However, such features add to the cost of the test fixture and, in some cases, introduce some unreliability into the test fixture itself. This is particularly undesirable because the test fixture, and the engagement of the device with the test fixture, should be more reliable than the packaged devices themselves in order to provide a meaningful test. Moreover, devices used for high-frequency operation are typically tested by applying high frequency signals. This requirement imposes constraints on the electrical characteristics of the signal paths in the test fixture, which further complicates construction of the test fixture.
Additionally, when testing packaged devices having solder balls connected with terminals, solder tends to accumulate on those parts of the test fixture that engage the solder balls. This accumulation of solder residue can shorten the life of the test fixture and impair its reliability.
A variety of solutions have been put forth to deal with the aforementioned problems. Certain packages disclosed in the aforementioned patents have terminals that can move with respect to the microelectronic device. Such movement can compensate to some degree for non-planarity of the terminals during testing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,726 and 5,214,308, both issued to Nishiguchi et al., disclose a BGA-type approach in which bump leads on the face of the chip are received in cup-like sockets on the substrate and bonded therein by a low-melting point material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,079 issued to Beaman et al. discloses a test socket for chips in which dome-shaped contacts on the test substrate are disposed within conical guides. The chip is forced against the substrate so that the solder balls enter the conical guides and engage the dome-shaped pins on the substrate. Sufficient force is applied so that the dome-shaped pins actually deform the solder balls of the chip.
A further example of a BGA socket may be found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,699, issued Sep. 8, 1998, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The '699 patent discloses a sheet-like connector having a plurality of holes. Each hole is provided with at least one resilient laminar contact extending inwardly over a hole. The bump leads of a BGA device are advanced into the holes so that the bump leads are engaged with the contacts. The assembly can be tested, and if found acceptable, the bump leads can be permanently bonded to the contacts.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,297, issued Mar. 20, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a connector for microelectronic devices having bump leads and methods for fabricating and using the connector. In one embodiment of the '297 patent, a dielectric substrate has a plurality of posts extending upwardly from a front surface. The posts may be arranged in an array of post groups, with each post group defining a gap therebetween. A generally laminar contact extends from the top of each post. In order to test a device, the bump leads of the device are each inserted within a respective gap thereby engaging the contacts which wipe against the bump lead as it continues to be inserted. Typically, distal portions of the contacts deflect downwardly toward the substrate and outwardly away from the center of the gap as the bump lead is inserted into a gap.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,636, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a method and apparatus for providing interconnections between a microelectronic device and a supporting substrate. In one preferred embodiment of the '636 patent, a method of fabricating an interconnection component for a microelectronic device includes providing a flexible chip carrier having first and second surfaces and coupling a conductive sheet to the first surface of the chip carrier. The conductive sheet is then selectively etched to produce a plurality of substantially rigid posts. A compliant layer is provided on the second surface of the support structure and a microelectronic device such as a semiconductor chip is engaged with the compliant layer so that the compliant layer lies between the microelectronic device and the chip carrier, and leaving the posts projecting from the exposed surface of the chip carrier. The posts are electrically connected to the microelectronic device. The posts form projecting package terminals that can be engaged in a socket or solder-bonded to features of a substrate as, for example, a circuit panel. Because the posts are movable with respect to the microelectronic device, such a package substantially accommodates thermal coefficient of expansion mismatches between the device and a supporting substrate when the device is in use. Moreover, the tips of the posts can be coplanar or nearly coplanar.
As disclosed in certain preferred embodiments in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,126, filed Nov. 10, 2004, entitled “MICRO PIN GRID ARRAY WITH WIPING ACTION”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, a microelectronic package includes conductive posts that promote wiping action and facilitate engagement of the conductive posts and the contacts. In one preferred embodiment, the tip end or upper extremity of each post may be horizontally offset from the center of the base of that post. Such offset can be used in addition to, or in lieu of, the features discussed above for promoting tilting of the posts. Also, the posts can be provided with features such as sharp edges or asperities for promoting more reliable engagement with contact pads.
As discussed in greater detail in the co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,439, filed Dec. 16, 2004, entitled “MICROELECTRONIC PACKAGES AND METHODS THEREFOR”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, a support structure may include a plurality of spaced apart support elements and may also include a flexible sheet overlying the support elements. Conductive posts may be offset in horizontal directions from the support elements. The offset between the posts and the support elements allows the posts, and particularly the bases of the posts, to move independently of one another relative to a microelectronic element.
Microelectronic packages having conductive terminals or posts that are able to move independently of one another is also disclosed in greater detail in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,119, filed on Nov. 10, 2004, entitled “MICRO PIN GRID WITH PIN MOTION ISOLATION”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Microelectronic elements such as semiconductor chips ordinarily are mounted on circuit panels such as circuit boards. For example, a packaged semiconductor chip may have an array of bonding contacts on a bottom surface of the package. Such a package can be mounted to a corresponding array of bonding contacts exposed at a top surface of a circuit board by placing the package on the circuit board with the bottom surface of the package facing downwardly and confronting the top surface of the circuit board, so that each bonding contact on the package is aligned with a corresponding bonding contact on the circuit board. Masses of a conductive bonding material, typically in the form of solder balls, are provided between the bonding contacts of the package and the bonding contacts of the circuit board. In typical surface-mounting techniques, solder balls are placed on the bonding contacts of the package before the package is applied to the circuit board.
Ordinarily, numerous microelectronic elements are mounted side-by-side on the circuit board and interconnected to one another by electrically conductive traces connecting the various bonding contacts. Using this conventional approach, however, the circuit board must have an area at least equal to the aggregate area of all of the microelectronic elements. Moreover, the circuit board must have all of the traces needed to make all of the interconnections between microelectronic elements. In some cases, the circuit board must include many layers of traces to accommodate the required interconnections. This materially increases the cost of the circuit board. Typically, each layer extends throughout the entire area of the circuit board. Stated another way, the number of layers in the entire circuit board is determined by the number of layers required in the area of the circuit board having the most complex, densely packed interconnections. For example, if a particular circuit requires six layers of traces in one small region but only requires four layers in the remainder of the circuit board, the entire circuit board must be fabricated as a six-layer structure.
These difficulties can be alleviated to some degree by connecting related microelectronic elements to one another using an additional circuit panel so as to form a sub-circuit or module, which, in turn, is mounted to the main circuit board. The main circuit board need not include the interconnections made by the circuit panel of the module. It is possible to make such a module in a “stacked” configuration, so that some of the chips or other microelectronic elements in the module are disposed on top of other chips or microelectronic elements in the same module. Thus, the module as a whole can be mounted in an area of the main circuit board less than the aggregate area of the individual microelectronic elements in the module. However, the additional circuit panel and the additional layer of interconnections between this circuit panel and the main circuit board consume additional space. In particular, the additional circuit panel and additional layer of interconnections between the additional circuit panel and the main circuit panel add to the height of the module, i.e., the distance by which the module projects above the top surface of the main circuit board. This is particularly significant where the module is provided in a stacked configuration and where low height is essential, as, for example, in assemblies intended for use in miniaturized cellular telephones and other devices to be worn or carried by the user.
The additional space consumed by mounting pre-packaged semiconductor chips on a separate module circuit panel can be saved by integrating the circuit panel of the module with a part of the package itself, commonly referred to as a package substrate. For example, several bare or unpackaged semiconductor chips can be connected to a common substrate during the chip packaging operation. Packages of this nature can also be made in a stacked arrangement. Such multi-chip packages can include some or all of the interconnections among the various chips in the package and can provide a very compact assembly. The main circuit board can be simpler than that which would be required to mount individual packaged chips in the same circuit. However, this approach requires unique packages for each combination of chips to be included in the package. For example, in the cellular telephone industry, it is a common practice to use the same field programmable gate array (“FPGA”) or application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) with different combinations of static random access memory (“SRAM”) and flash memory so as to provide different features in different cellular telephones. This increases the costs associated with producing, handling and stocking the various packages.
Despite all of the above-described advances in the art, still further improvements in making and testing microelectronic packages would be desirable.